I suggest you make a mockup out of lightweight cardboard so you know how much you need so you don't buy too much or too little.

Christine

Silvana_Girl

02-17-2005, 03:19 PM

i was thinking the samething, im going to CVS and im gonna buy some poster boeard, just as a test!

TifaTetsuEd

02-17-2005, 03:52 PM

I'm being Ed, but I'm making the arm and leg, and they are gonna be made of real metal; aluminum! WHOOO! :) and I hope yours comes out good :)

Silvana_Girl

02-19-2005, 10:50 AM

wow where are you getting that done? or are you doing it yourself? now youre making me all jealous! itll be a project, i commend you!

Omitsu

02-19-2005, 10:55 PM

Hi :D I can't really help too much with the styrene thing.. I was originally gonna make my arm out of thermoplastics (it's like easy vacuum forming) but then I found this link:

http://www.geocities.com/jenisteencantrell/Automail.html

I'm gonna see if I can mimic what she did. It came out so well, and looks great! The trickest part will be carving out the foam. I'm getting samples from some company I found, so let's see if I have any inborn talent @_@

TifaTetsuEd - Wow, you're doing the leg too?! That's committed XD And out of metal too, that's really impressive. How are you going to show everyone? Flash them? XD!

itoshigo

01-08-2006, 09:17 PM

I commend you all for making faux automail!! ^o^

I think I'm too lazy and too much of a klutz to even attempt making them.
I once saw a link to a metallic prop maker who takes com's right here on C.com, but I'm fairly sure that I've lost that link.... (darn)

BlueMew

01-09-2006, 09:19 AM

I just want to note that of the plastics used in vacuforming, Styrene tends to break easier than most.

Granted, this would be more important if you were making the full body armor (like a Star Wars Stormtrooper) since then you couldn't sit down without being paranoid of breaking something, but for just the arm for FMA cosplay, it would be both cheaper, and should be able to handle the wear and tear of bending and such.

Good luck!

Amethyst Angel

01-09-2006, 01:30 PM

Styrene is flimsier than metal, but at least it's easily repairable. (You sand the surface of the damaged area and glue another plate of plastic over it.)

I've finally begun work on my Alphonse armor:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/proplady/

(The hardest part so far is being able to afford enough craft foam and plastic to make the entire thing. I used tagboard to work out the size and shape of the pattern so I wouldn't have to buy more than I need.)-_-